To celebrate Black Music Month, BET will be taking a serious, in-depth look at the history of hip-hop music, how it was shaped by the world and how it shaped the world in return.

The Message is a documentary series that will air the first of four episodes tonight at 10  EST/9 CST. The first episode, “The Birth and Proliferation of Hip-Hop,” will start at the very beginning of it all and focus on the origin of hip-hop then follow it across the nation to California, where it gained a second major hub, and everywhere in between.

Those that tune in to The Message will be able to watch some of their favorite voices in music talk about their first memories of the culture and get swept away in nostalgia along the way.  Both contemporary artists you can hear on the radio today and the more seasoned veterans will come together to talk about the culture they love. Some of the names that are slated to speak in the series can be read below, but know there are also going to be plenty more.

“Hip Hop is a seed planted and nourished amongst the “broken glass everywhere” of mid-seventies New York,”  said Stephen Hill, President of Music Programing and Specials, BET Networks. “It has grown to be a worldwide phenomenon and the dominant culture of at least one generation. This exciting series examines the origin and the path of the music and message taking care to objectively analyze its factions and movements.”

You can expect to hear testimonies from: Russell Simmons, Ice Cube, Birdman, Pharrell, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, MC Lyte, Master P, LL Cool J, Big Boi, Bun B, 2 Chainz, Eve, Angie Martinez, Funkmaster Flex, Luther Campbell, Clive Davis, Mona Scott-Young, Questlove, A$AP Rocky, E-40, David Banner, Fab Five Freddy, Nelson George, Big Tigger, Sway and many more.

The remaining three episodes of The Message will premiere in weekly intervals, every Wednesday night this month at 10 EST/9 CST, on BET. Watch the trailer below with an appearance from your very own Karen Civil.